Single Mom Owes $105K In Parking Fines Because Of Ex-Boyfriend

Three years ago Jennifer Fitzgerald and her boyfriend broke up

. Apparently the boyfriend was bitter about the breakup so he went and bought a really old junker of a car. He then went and registered the car in Jennifer's name and parked the car at Chicago O'Hare airport and left it there for three years. The car was cited 678 parking violations which totals about $105,000 and the city of Chicago would like its money and has come collecting from Jennifer Fitzgerald who is an unemployed, single mom. Jennifer has gone to court to sue her ex, but right now she is still the one on the hook for paying the fines. It is the largest single amount of money ever owed in parking fines to the city.

@katsm0711 – some people are just that vindictive…maybe all she did was wound his pride. And if they can prove he bought the car, and registered it in her name, why aren't they going after him? I don't get it. They have to know this is a set up!

I can totally see this happening. Chicago is a bulldog when it comes to inflicting and enforcing fines. There is no compassion in any of that city's bureaucracy, either. They don't care how the bill was made, as long as it gets paid.

Does Illinois allow someone to register a car online? If so, he could have easily done so in someone else's name and sent in the paperwork with a forged signature. I think when the dust settles on this, he's gonna be in a shitload of trouble.

@Cathy that was my first thought as well. I think she knew it was under name, I mean how could she not? She had to of signed for it and shown ID but got careless after they broke up. I read somewhere else that they were together when he got the car which Enty left out.

I sold a car to a guy when I was a teenager, and he didn't register the title. I got a bill for parking and towing from the City of Portland a year later, because he'd left it at a parking meter. I had to show the bill of sale to get off the hook (and really, I could have made that up – a bill of sale can be on a napkin).

I find it hard to believe that they let the car sit for three years, tho.

Jennifer's uncle sold the car to douche, but signed it over in Jennifer's name, Douche worked at O'hare for American Airlines, but paid for the city sticker & insurance. Abandoned the car there somewhere in 2007…fast forward to current crappy situation.

The little paragraph left a lot out, like he worked at the airport and parked it in a secure employee lot, that you need to be an employee to access. The family apparently asked him to get the car several times.

Lol Kelly…I deleted my previous comment but, attending a particular crosstown classic @ Wrigley, and being heckled by drunken businessmen for cheering on my team (in a stand up yay! smile and clapping non-obnoxious way) and having them whip a beer bottle (yes, they must have smuggled that in) at me, along with throwing cups of beers at my companion…left me with an unfavorable impression lol

If he worked at the airport, and parked in the appropriate lot, why so many tickets? This story should have never happened, LOL. It points to gross incompetence of whomever is in charge of ticketing. The car should have been towed after a week.

I don't understand why it wasn't towed. Who the hell lets a car sit there for three years collecting tickets? I've never been to a Cubs game,but when I went to a Blackhawks game in Chicago the fans were very nice even though we were wearing our St Louis Blues jerseys. But when the Blackhawks come to St Louis the fans that come here to see them act like total assholes. Last year about three rows of them got thrown out for fighting in the stands

Actually, it's even more disconcerting that it was left at a pretty major AIRPORT in a SECURE employee lot. Not to be all paranoid, but the car was left there for THREE YEARS….whose to stop someone from doing something that would cause some major airport damage?

The article linked fills in a lot of the gaps. I am thinking she allowed him to put the registration in her name, but beyond that really stupid mistake (and at the time he was her boyfriend and father of her child…perhaps she wanted to ensure he had a way to get to work?). More disconcerting is the security issue O'Hare and the city should have to face in the media for allowing a car to sit for so long. What's stopping an employee from cooking up a terror plot with this kind of security loophole?

If I were a juror on this case, I'd say the tickets were valid up to the 30 days to which the city then declared it an abandoned vehicle. After that, them piling on the tickets was ridiculous and the city should be ashamed of itself for pursuing this. Of course, there are many reasons Chicago city gov't should be ashamed of itself, but I digress.

I also don't see any mention of the alderman being involved…that surprises me. As an aside, I lived in Chicago for 12 years. I'm a diehard Cubs fans, and I can assure you I'm not the type of fan you guys reference. I've enjoyed just as many games down at the Cell (or "The Joan" as my friends and I called it). I'd argue that any boorish behavior was from the idiots who treat Wrigley as a speed dating venue and beer garden, and not from the true baseball fans. YMMV.

holy crap, what an asshole. Don't get on the wrong side of the State of Illinois–I lived there 30 years ago and had an unpaid ticket and it took me like 25 years to get it off my record.

Every time I would move it would come up and every time I would try to follow up and clear it up and pay whatever it was and they would say it was done….and it wasn't.

Poor girl. I too can't understand why they wouldn't tow it–altho even if you get towed they charge you for however long they keep your car at the towing lot. She needs to try to fight this because he registered it in her name without her knowing isn't that some kind of identity theft or something?

Cards fan in STL here. We went to Wrigley a few years ago for a Cubs-Pirates game. We rooted good-naturedly for the Pirates, natch, and the Cubby fans could not have been more fun and welcoming. Had a great time at the Cubby Bear and other Wrigleyville bars after as well. Again, could not have had more fun. The rivalry is usually a fun and silly one, not a deadly and scary one.

someone in this situation – the boyfriend and/or the uncle – is guilty of fraud. so, jennifer should not have to be on the hook. I hope the b-friend gets fired. there's no explanation for that kind of vindictive behavior and if he's done that, he's done many other bad things as well. if I were his employer, I wouldn't ever trust him again.

Pub ad link

DISCLAIMER

CRAZY DAYS AND NIGHTS IS A GOSSIP SITE. THE SITE PUBLISHES RUMORS, CONJECTURE, AND FICTION. IN ADDITION TO ACCURATELY REPORTED INFORMATION, CERTAIN SITUATIONS, CHARACTERS AND EVENTS PORTRAYED IN THE BLOG ARE EITHER PRODUCTS OF THE AUTHOR'S IMAGINATION OR ARE USED FICTITIOUSLY. INFORMATION ON THIS SITE MAY CONTAIN ERRORS OR INACCURACIES; THE BLOG'S PROPRIETOR DOES NOT MAKE WARRANTY AS TO THE CORRECTNESS OR RELIABILITY OF THE SITE'S CONTENT. LINKS TO CONTENT ON AND QUOTATION OF MATERIAL FROM OTHER SITES ARE NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CRAZY DAYS AND NIGHTS.